“Not everybody takes the risk to go into this area,” said board member Fidel Perez. “There is a stigma that it is a low income area. We should not give it that image.”

The nearly 292-square-foot development, to be called Reflections Apartments, will have 138 units, less than 800 square feet of ground floor retail space, 7,700 square feet of open space, car and bicycle parking. The review board approved waivers sought by J. Milton that reduced the number of pedestrian entries, commercial loading zones and the length of the driveway aisle. The building is being designed by architecture firm Axioma3.

“Not often do we see this type of project in this submarket,” said Axioma3 CEO Eduardo Castineira. “But this area is very important. [J. Milton is] seeing that potential.”

J. Milton, led by CEO Joseph Milton, purchased the 1.22-acre site for $3.5 million in 2014. The assemblage is on the south side of the river, where investors have been buying up multifamily properties in Little Havana. The property is across the street from developer Edwin Verdezoto’s 6.3 acre site on the riverfront that has been on the market since 2015.